Animals of the Zoo  Reticulated python (with video)

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Species: Reticulated python (Broghammerus reticulatus)

Sex: Female.Age: Estimated 17 years.

Type: Reptile.Home: Southeast Asia and the Indonesian and Philippine Islands.

Diet: Primarily small mammals and birds, but there have been documented cases of this species eating animals as large as a pig or deer. It is a constrictor and suffocates its prey by wrapping its body in coils around it and tightening. The python’s extremely flexible jaw allows them to swallow whole items much larger than their heads. “Like most snakes, they are usually ‘sit-and-wait’ predators,” said Jeff Jundt, curator of reptiles at the Detroit Zoo. “They will sit in one particular area and, as prey comes by, they will strike out and will wrap around and, basically, suffocate the animal. Once it is dead, they will go ahead and swallow it whole.” It takes about 5-7 days for the snake to digest smaller prey. Larger prey can take a couple of weeks to fully digest. The snake at the Detroit Zoo is fed once a week.

Average life span in captivity: 25-30 years.

Length: The reticulated python is the longest species of snake in the world, with the longest reported at 32 feet, 9 inches. Most do not exceed 20-23 feet. Reticulated pythons can weigh up to 440 pounds. The individual at the Detroit Zoo is about 18 feet. It takes about a half dozen keepers to safely handle her. “You have to be very safe around a snake that large,” Jundt said.

Weight: 130-140 pounds.Birth: Reticulated pythons may become sexually mature in just 2 to 4 years and large females may lay up to 100 eggs, but generally lay 30-50 eggs. The female will remain tightly coiled around the clutch of eggs shivering or twitching which is thought to increase her body temperature to warm the eggs. The female will not eat during this time and will defend the eggs from predators, but the newborns, once hatched, are on their own.

Now you know: This species of python has reflective scales with an iridescent blue sheen which is most noticeable after it sheds its skin. Its body is colored with gray, brown and tan within a network of criss-crossed lines, which give it the “reticulated” name. Pythons are excellent swimmers.

Home, sweet home: The reticulated python lives in a spacious exhibit at the Holden Reptile Conservation Center designed just for her that opened in fall of 2011 after 8 months of construction. The centerpiece of the 20-by-8-by-8 foot space is a large stone head deity – created by Detroit Zoo reptile keeper David Blanchard – fashioned after temple idols found at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. There are about 70-80 species of reptiles, and approximately 250 individual animals, at the center. There are reptiles — crocodiles, turtles, lizards and snakes — from around the world, as well as Michigan, including the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, the state’s only venomous snake species.

Protection status: Non-threatened.

Detroit Zoo information: 248-541-5717, www.detroitzoo.org.

Editor’s note: Animals of the Zoo is a weekly series. Next: Amphibians.